Something in the Water
by Orange Bulldog
Summary: A happy AU fic set in the time frame of S7, except that most of the bad stuff in S6 didn't happen. There's a lot of lesbian-lovin' going around. Please review!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimers:

These are obviously not my characters, I'm just borrowing them from Joss Whedon and anyone else who owns them.

If you have issues with people of the same sex loving each other, or live someplace where that's illegal (in which case, consider moving) please move on.

Time frame is when Season 7 would have been happening, only none of it is. Plus, Tara isn't dead, and Xander and Anya got married. Deal with it. This is a happy fic.

Pairings: Willow/Tara, Buffy/Faith, Dawn/f, Anya/Xander

Rating: PG-13

Dawn lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling, contemplating the events of her day. Why did she have to be so different? She had finally come to terms with the knowledge that she was the Key and had only been created in her human form by the monks recently. Now this? Well, she thought, at least if anyone threatens me I can have Buffy beat them up. Buffy! Oh no! How would she react to the news that her little sister had a serious crush...on a girl? She had been bad enough when she caught Dawn making out with a boy for the first time. Granted, it was with a vampire who tried to kill her shortly after that. But it did not occur to Dawn to keep this a secret from Buffy, since things had a way of coming out anyway, and with the lifestyle the Scoobies kept up it was not good to have secrets. Anyway, Buffy had been okay with Willow being gay right?

She decided to talk to Willow or Tara first however, for obvious reasons. She had always loved both of them, and their relationship had been so accepted within the Scooby gang – nobody appeared to see them any differently than Xander and Anya or Buffy and Riley. Dawn had been questioning her sexuality for some time now, but like most people she hoped that she was straight, especially since her life was strange enough already. But she was smart enough to recognize this crush on Kelly for what it was.

Should she talk to them together? No, that might be weird. Dawn had always had a special bond with Tara, so she decided that she would be the first. Once she had made up her mind, she wasted no time going to find her.

She found Tara and Willow downstairs, working together on the computer. Well, to be honest Willow was working on the computer and Tara was being helpfully supportive. They looked up as Dawn came into the room.

"Hey Dawnie, we're looking up information on the Traglar demon Buffy saw yesterday on patrol, wanna help? How was school, anything exciting happen? I mean good exciting like a test, not something bad like the Hellmouth opening or anything." Willow asked.

Dawn smiled, she liked Willow's babbling because she sort of did it too. Anyway, something good exciting had happened, and that was why she was here. But suddenly she got scared for no good reason and almost ran upstairs again.

"Um I um...I was wondering, I mean, I wanted to talk to Tara about something but um, it's ok you guys look busy so I'll just go back upstairs..."

But as she turned to go Tara spoke up, "No Willow's fine aren't you honey? What do you want to talk about?"

"Um....ok well....um can we go upstairs?"

"Sure...we'll be back soon okay Will?"

Willow nodded absently without taking her eyes off the computer screen.

As they walked upstairs Dawn reminded herself that she was being silly. This was Tara!! Who was gay too for goodness sakes!! Why was she scared to talk to her about her feelings?

Dawn shut her bedroom door behind them.

"Dawn, is everything all right? Are you okay?"

"No I'm fine, I just....well let's sit down."

Okay Dawn just spit it out, she told herself.

"I think I'm gay."

The blond witch looked a little thrown for a second by the sudden outburst, but quickly regained her composure.

"Oh...okay, um, wow. Did you just figure this out? Do you like someone particular?" Tara said gently.

"Yeah, it's someone particular. Kelly." Dawn twisted the fabric of her skirt nervously.

"Oh. Okay. Does it bother you, liking her?"

"No, it's nice somehow. I get all warm and happy when she is around...." Dawn smiled unconsciously thinking about Kelly. "I guess it's just scary....I mean everyone here is so great about you and Willow but I know not everyone is that cool. I don't want to be any weirder than I already am, but I guess I can't help it." Tara just nodded, not wanting to interrupt the teen, knowing she needed to talk. "See I've been thinking about it for awhile, girls I mean. I think I've liked a couple girls before, but I didn't really know what was happening. Last year. I guess the monks didn't put any gay feelings in my head then...but now that I'm me I like girls. I think that made it harder, because I had written about boy crushes in my diary, you know? And even though I know none of that happened, it still feels real to me. But they don't happen anymore. Anyway last year I sometimes thought that I might be gay but I tried to focus on the boys and just not think about it. I don't know why Kelly is different. She's new, she just moved here from San Francisco two weeks ago, and she's in my math and english classes. I just couldn't stop thinking about her. We got to be friends really quickly I guess, she sits next to me in math and we talk. She's really nice. And today after math we stood up and brushed hands and I really noticed it. So the whole rest of the day I've just been thinking about it. Putting together all those times I really wanted a certain girl to be on my team in gym, or hoping to walk by and see another one on the way to my locker. And of course, thinking about Kelly. Tara I'm not weird am I? Is it weird that I liked touching her hand? Weird to think about her so much?"

Tara waited a moment to make sure that Dawn was finished. "No Dawn, it's not weird. Are you sure that you don't think it's weird just because it's another girl? I know it took me a long time to be comfortable with the fact that I liked girls. It's definitely not weird to think about someone you like a lot, and not weird at all to like touching her."

"But I don't think it's weird, two girls I mean! Hello, I don't think you and Willow are weird! You dating a guy, that's what would be weird." She grinned at Tara, who grinned back.

"Well, I'm glad you don't think we are weird. But it's a lot different when it's you." She pointed out gently.

Dawn sighed. "Yeah, it is. I'm worried about Buffy." She stated.

"Oh. Do you want to come out to her?"

Dawn nodded. "I think so. I mean, I really want to figure out a way to see if Kelly likes me back, but even if she doesn't, this isn't going away. I've learned that you shouldn't keep secrets in this crowd." She explained. "So I might as well tell her now. But that doesn't mean I'm not worried she'll freak."

Tara thought for a minute. "Well, I don't think she'd do anything really drastic, Dawnie. She might be a little weird at first, but I'm sure if she isn't great at the start she'd come around. You could talk to Willow about when she came out to her. She told me about it then of course, but she'd remember it better. I mean, if you think you could talk to her. Don't worry, I won't tell her, by the way." She reassured Dawn.

"Oh, no, I was going to talk to her too, but yeah thanks for not telling her first...and maybe that would help, but Willow isn't her baby sister." Dawn pointed out.  
"That's true. But it's a start."

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Dawn didn't get a chance to talk to Willow alone that night, but the next day after school she came home to find the redhead alone in the house. She was sitting in the living room doing a problem set, but she looked up when Dawn entered.

"Hey, Dawnie, how was school?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. You got a minute to talk?" she asked timidly.

"For you, of course. What's up?"

Dawn sat down on the sofa next to Willow. "Can I ask you a question?"

Willow just nodded.

"So um, I was just wondering, when did you come out to Buffy?"

Willow was slightly taken aback by the question out of the blue, but she remembered that day as if it were yesterday. "Well, it was the day Oz came back. I was torn up because I was just starting to date Tara but he was Oz....and it was super hard because nobody knew about Tara and they didn't understand why I wouldn't want to get back together with him. So I told her then. I remember she asked why I was upset, and I just said 'It's complicated...because of Tara" and let her infer from that."

"So she figured it out then?"

"Well, actually she thought Tara had a crush on Oz at first, but I just looked at her and suddenly she figured it out and she said OH! Oh. oh. And then she started saying my name a lot, I still don't know why she did that....and then we just talked a little bit about how it was new to me but that it just felt right."

"You didn't know before? Or just the dating part was new?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Well....I think I knew before, but I tried not to think about it. It wasn't hard really, since I was always obsessed with Xander and then Oz I didn't have a lot of time to think about girls, and it was easy to be in denial anyway. My vamp self sorta made me think about it more but even after that it took Tara and realizing that I liked her as more than a friend to really make me realize....you probably don't want to know all this huh, why are you asking?"

"Well.....see, there's this girl at school..."

"A gay girl? Whoops interrupting..." Willow cut herself off when she realized Dawn hadn't finished.

"No...well sort of .... I mean I hope so....Willow I like her. In a more than friend liking way."

"OH! Oh. Wow I sound just like Buffy! I mean when I ... oh you got it. That's great Dawn! What's her name, she's not a vampire right, do we know her, oh gosh now I sound like a mom and shutting up now."

"Her name's Kelly, no she's not a vamp sheesh am I ever going to live that one down, and I don't think you guys have met her. I try not to bring my school friends here, I mean how would I explain it if Buffy came in all covered in demon gore?"

Willow laughed, "That's very true. When we were in high school, that was pretty much the way you got inducted into the Scoobies. See Buffy kill a demon, usually one who was trying to kill you, and you were in. Anyway, back to your girl. Is she the first one you've liked?"

"Well um, not really, I mean I think had a crush on Tara for awhile...like the one I had on Xander only nobody noticed of course. And I wasn't even sure really, it's so hard to tell you know? There were other girls at school, who now looking back I probably did have crushes on, but I told myself I just really liked them, you know?"

"Oh yeah, I totally do. Okay so go on, but this new girl you figured it out?"

"Yeah. With Kelly, I'm sure. She's so beautiful, she has this short curly brown hair and green eyes and she's on the swim team and she's really smart, you'd like her Willow she knows all about computers and she helps me with my math homework and I think she might like me too!"

"Whoa, why didn't you say so? Do you know if she likes girls?"

"No." Dawn said, looking down at her lap. "But we've just gotten close really quickly, and she seems to touch me more than friends usually do, just like to say hi or whatever. And she never talks about boys. And today, I told her about you guys, just dropped it randomly in the conversation, you know, and she didn't seem wigged at all! Actually she said she thought it was cool that I lived with three 21 year olds instead of regular parents. She already knew I lived with Buffy and about Mom, but I guess not you two. She didn't say anything specific, bad or good, but I think it's a good sign, right?"

"Could be. Hey, why did you want to know about me and Buffy?"

"Oh. Well I'm thinking about how to tell her, and to tell you the truth I'm kinda worried. Tara suggested I ask you how it went with you."

"Oh, I get it, that's what you wanted to talk to her last night about, wasn't it!" Willow had been wondering what that was all about.

"Yeah."

"Right. So coming out to Buffy...maybe you could make it about Kelly? Say you are thinking about asking her out and wanted to see what she thought about it or something. And of course, you know if you want Tara and me there, we're there."

Dawn smiled. "Thanks. I think I would like that. I'll let you know when I'm ready, okay?"

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The next day, Willow got a call.

"Tara, that was Fred. I have to go to LA. Do you want to come with, or stay here?"  
Tara thought for a moment. "Maybe I should stay, just in case something happens and they need magic, you know? Is it something you can handle alone?"

"I hope so...Angel is Angelus again...long story, he did it on purpose and they put his soul in a jar, but someone stole the jar and she thinks I can help them find it or come up with an alternate plan. I don't really know the whole deal now, but apparently I'm re-souling girl for good."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. I'll miss you." Tara wrapped her arms around Willow's neck and pulled her close to kiss her long and hard.

"Ohhh, making it hard for me to leave, honey." Willow teased.

"That's the idea. To make sure you don't spend any more time there than necessary." Tara retorted.

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Dawn walked home from school, trying to decide if she should talk to Buffy tonight or wait. Maybe if something really did work out with Kelly, that would be a better way. But then Buffy might think she was only telling her because she felt she had to. Arg! Maybe she should just tell her and get it over with so she could stop worrying about it.

She reached her house and walked inside to find Tara and Buffy in the living room.

"Hi, guys, what's...Buffy? Are you okay?" she asked, seeing that Buffy's eyes were slightly red and puffy.

Buffy wiped her eyes self-consciously. "I'm fine. Angel's in trouble, that's all, but Willow's gone to straighten things out."

"Angel needs Willow to help?" Dawn asked, confused.

"Well...it's kind of complicated. They took his soul out and put it in a jar, yeah I know stupid idea but I guess they thought it was the only way at the time, but of course things went wrong and now the jar is gone so they've got Angelus on their hands."

Dawn's eyes widened. Any thoughts she had about coming out were wiped from her mind. They had bigger problems, and besides Willow was gone.

"Don't worry, Dawnie, I'm sure Willow can fix it. She did it last time, remember?" Tara reminded the teen.

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Tara's fath in her girlfriend was not misplaced, and Willow wasted no time in LA. A day later, she was back on the road to Sunnydale, with one extra passenger in the car.

"So...Faith. You got out early on good behavior?" Willow asked.

"Don't sound so surprised, Red. I can be good when I want to be." She grinned. "So, you know what I've been doing the past three years, how about you? What's been happening in good ol Sunny D?"

"Oh, you know, the usual...vamps, demons, apocalypses...remind me again why you are coming back with me?" Willow said, having been reassured by Angel that the dark slayer was good again, but still not entirely trusting her.

"What, and miss out on a chance to torment B?" she teased, before sobering up. "No, really, it's actually the opposite." She turned and stared out the window. "I had a lot of time to think, Red. About what I did, what I didn't do...I did some really shitty stuff to Buffy and company. I guess I need to apologize, make it up to you all."

Willow was stunned. "Wow."

"So I figured I'd hang around Sunny D for a while, help out wherever I can. I know I can't change what I did but I can try to make it better now. Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff. Tell me all the gossip, last time I was here B was with that beefsteak guy, Xander was with Anya from high school, and you had that blond girl, what was her name..."

Willow's eyes widened. "You knew about Tara and me? Did Buffy tell you? Wait a sec...that was before Buffy knew! How did you know?"

Faith snickered. "She didn't know? Typical. Some people just see what they expect to see. It was painfully obvious Red. The night I saw you two at the Bronze, when I was Buffy, I totally knew. How long did it take B?"

"Um...I told her a few weeks later. She had no idea. I'm still wigging a little on you knowing, sorry."

"It's like gaydar. People who don't ever think about gay stuff just don't ever see it. People who do, see it. Simple as that."

"And you think about gay stuff because....."

Faith laughed. "Okay, starting to think yours needs some work! Cuz I like girls too, dimwit."

Willow turned to stare at Faith, almost swerving into another lane before turning back. "But...you slept with Xander." She said, confused.

"You were with wolf-boy too remember? Anyway, I like guys too. It's allowed ya know. I guess I'm bisexual, though I just like to think of myself as sexual." She said with a smirk.

"Oh my god, you totally had a thing for Buffy in high school, didn't you." Willow said suddenly.

"What? No, no girl, come on now, you're just here trying to win back some gaydar cred right? Ain't gonna work."

Willow lifted her eyebrow and glanced over to find the slayer studiously looking out the window again. "Nope, I know it. It makes perfect sense. But she has no idea, does she."

Faith sighed. "No, and she isn't going to, got it?" she admitted. "No reason for her to, she's straight as an arrow, and it'd probably freak her out."

"I did too you know. Well not that I'd have admitted in high school of course."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone have crushes on B?"

"I'm sure it's the slayer thing." Willow assured her.

"Right, cuz hello, slayer sitting right here and not getting that."

"Excuse me? Where were you in high school? Xander got so hot and bothered whenever you were around Cordy couldn't stand it. And as for me, well, let's just say I couldn't get your story about naked slaying out of my head for a week." She blushed. "Sorry we weren't the Scoobies you wanted, but you weren't ignored by any stretch."

Faith laughed. "Okay, you got me there. So where were we, you never told me the Scooby gossip." She reminded Willow.

"Oh yeah. Well, Tara and I are still together, Xander and Anya got married last year, and Buffy...well Riley left almost two years ago now, before she died. You did hear that she died, right?" she paused.

Faith nodded. "Angel called. He called again after you raised her up again. Hell of a power ya got there Red. I'm sure that spell today was child's play after that."

Willow winced. "Um, yeah, well I had some trouble with black magic after that...I guess it wasn't quite right to do but come on, how could I not. She's Buffy, you know? So I guess we have something in common. I had to do a lot of making up for after that."

"Right, you were big and bad, I'm sure." Faith said, not really believing it.

"I cast memory spells to make people forget things, almost got us all killed, Tara left me for a few months, I was like a junkie, nothing mattered but the fix. I brought Dawn with me once to the guy I went to, left her alone for hours while I got high and then nearly got her killed after. We were lucky she only had a broken arm." Willow admitted.

"Wow." Faith didn't really know what to say.

"Yeah, exactly. But I'm better now, I got clean for Tara. She came back, and everything's okay now. I can even do spells again, I just have to be careful. Oops, I forgot, Buffy...yeah after she died she was sleeping with Spike for a while, yeah don't ask, it wasn't good, but she broke that off when she realized it was stupid. Even when he came back this year with a soul she's stayed away."

"Spike? The vampire? Buffy slept with him? And he has a soul now?"

"Yeah, I know, crazy like I said. Oh yay, Welcome to Sunnydale." Willow read the sign.

"Home sweet home." Faith quipped.

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Faith paused at the door of the Summers house. "I don't know, Red, now that I'm here I don't know if I can do it." She slumped against the wall.

She didn't get a chance to chicken out though, because the door opened and Buffy stuck her head out.

"Will? I thought I heard your car, why're you just...." She trailed off, seeing Willow's company.

"She was at Angel's. They let her out for good behavior, she helped bring Angel back. Buffy...she's changed, she came back to prove that and apologize. Give her a chance, okay?" Willow said before slipping past her best friend into the house. She closed the door behind her to keep the slayers talking.

Buffy folded her arms over her chest and looked at the figure slumped against the side of the house. She almost looked frightened, but of course that couldn't be, this was Faith.

Faith raised her eyes to meet Buffy's. "It's true B. I want to make it up to you, I know I can't ever, but I want to try. I had a lot of time to think, and...you and your friends were the best thing to ever happen to me and I fucked it up. I couldn't understand you, being nice to me was just foreign. But...I know I don't deserve it, but give me another chance, please?" The dark slayer almost had tears in her eyes.

Buffy's resolve crumbled and she opened the door. "Well if you're going to stay you might as well come in." she said grudgingly. "I think there's still some food left over from dinner."

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Faith spent the next few nights on the Summers couch, as Buffy insisted it was stupid for her to get a motel room. Privately it was more because she felt she could keep tabs on the other slayer better that way. But as hard as Buffy tried to keep her out, Faith was working her way back into the gang, and her constant offers of any kind of help were wearing Buffy down. She was helping Anya out at the Magic Box, laughing with the witches, talking about applying to UC Sunnydale, as she had gotten her GED in prison. Buffy had even caught her helping Dawn with her homework. She had to admit, it seemed like the girl had changed. Three days after her sudden arrival, Buffy walked cautiously into the living room where Faith was watching TV with Willow and Tara.

"Hey."

"Hey B, what'cha up to?"

"I thought I'd go patrol for a bit. Um...do you want to come?"

Faith's eyes widened slightly and she glanced at Willow, who grinned at her.

"Sure, of course." She hopped up off the sofa and dusted off her pants. "Let's go!"

The Chosen Two dusted more vamps than ever that night, and almost forgot about the bad blood between them. When they finally returned home, tired but satisfied, Buffy paused at the bottom of the stairs.

"Faith...I know that sofa's not too comfy, and I've got a big bed, if you'd rather..."

Faith grinned. "Thought you'd never ask, B!"

Buffy rolled her eyes but led the way upstairs without a word.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers:

These are obviously not my characters, I'm just borrowing them from Joss Whedon and anyone else who owns them.

If you have issues with people of the same sex loving each other, or live someplace where that's illegal (in which case, consider moving) please move on.

Time frame is when Season 7 would have been happening, only none of it is. Plus, Tara isn't dead, and Xander and Anya got married. Deal with it. This is a happy fic.

Pairings: Willow/Tara, Buffy/Faith, Dawn/f, Anya/Xander

Rating: PG-13

A few days later, Kelly stood on the front porch of Dawn's house, gathering the courage to knock. Dawn had invited her over to study for their upcoming chemistry test. Kelly would never pass up the opportunity to spend time with her new friend, on whom she had a huge crush. She winced, remembering that she wasn't out to anyone in Sunnydale yet. She was worried they wouldn't be as accepting as they were in San Francisco. In her old high school, she had joined the GSA and just gone from there. But there wasn't a GSA at Sunnydale High. Hmm, that gave her an idea...

Kelly knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a blond woman opened it.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Um, yeah, I'm Kelly, Dawn's friend? Is she here?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh! Right, Kelly. Dawn said you'd be coming by." The woman's face broke into a huge grin for some reason. "Come on in. Hey Dawn, Kelly's here!" she yelled up the stairs. "I'm Tara. Nice to meet you." She stepped away to let her pass as Dawn came rushing down the stairs.

Tara winked at Dawn as she went back to the living room and her books. Dawn blushed slightly as she closed the front door. "Let's go up to my room to study, it can get noisy down here." She suggested, leading the way.

"Sorry I took so long, practice ran a little late and then I had to shower and stuff..." she explained, since it was nearly six.

"Hey, no problem. If you want you can stay for dinner, we can study after too."

Upon reaching Dawn's room, the girls studied productively for about an hour. Suddenly Kelly looked up.

"Hey Dawn?"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking. Um...I was in this club at my old high school, it was really cool, and I was thinking about starting one here...cuz they don't have one..." she blushed and looked down, suddenly embarassed about starting this topic.

"Yeah? What kind of club?"

"Er...a Gay-Straight Alliance. I was ...I was thinking maybe you'd want to start it with me. You know, cuz of your friends and all. You're obviously cool with gay people." She rushed to finish, to make sure Dawn didn't think she was asking if she was gay. Though she wouldn't mind knowing...

Dawn smiled. Kelly was gay? Maybe? Or at least really cool about it! "Sure, I'd love to." A thought occurred to her. "Um, that is, I should probably ask Buffy first. See, the social services people can be kinda weird....last year there was almost a problem with her having my custody and part of it was Willow and Tara living here...yeah I guess they thought they were a bad influence on me or something....so I should make sure that wouldn't get her in trouble or anything, but I think it'd be fun." She finished lamely, wishing she hadn't said all of that.

Kelly frowned. "Oh. Well I don't want to get you in trouble with the law or anything."

"No, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sure it won't be a problem. I'm glad you asked." She looked down at her chemistry book, trying to get up the nerve to tell Kelly why she was really glad she asked.

Kelly was trying to decide if Dawn had figured out which half of the gay-straight alliance she was, and if she should just say it.

Both girls were saved from their thoughts by Willow's voice up the stairs.

"Dawn? Kelly? Dinner's ready!"

"Oh, good, I'm hungry!" Dawn said, relieved.

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"Hi baby." Willow entered the kitchen through the back door to find her girlfriend cooking dinner. She walked behind her and enveloped her in a hug, kissing her neck. "Buffy and Faith are going to train before patrolling, and they would grab something to eat there." Willow said. "So it's just the three of us."

Tara's eyes sparkled as she stirred the spaghetti sauce. "No it isn't. Guess who's upstairs studying with Dawn."

Willow pulled away and grinned back. "Kelly? We finally meet the infamous Kelly?"

"Yup! And I was thinking. Maybe we can help Dawn out a bit."

Willow looked confused.

"To figure out just how cool with it Kelly is. Be a little ... extra touchy, you know? See how she reacts."

"Well, who am I to turn down a beautiful woman wanting to be extra touchy with me." Willow said, leaning in for a kiss.

When they finally came up for air, Tara giggled. "Oh, this could be fun. You want to go call them down, this is almost done."

Willow smirked and walked into the foyer. "Dawn? Kelly? Dinner's ready!"

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"Hey, what's for dinner, smells great Tara." Dawn said, walking into the kitchen. "Oh, and I guess introductions...Kelly, this is Willow, and Tara who you met earlier. This is Kelly."

"Nice to meet you, Kelly. Dawn said you just moved here?" Willow said.

"Yeah, from San Francisco."

"Oh, we've always meant to visit there. Hey baby, can you drain the beans?" Tara said sweetly. "Why don't you girls set the table?" she suggested.

Dawn obeyed with Kelly following her. Tara got an evil gleam in her eyes as she walked up behind her girlfriend, standing at the sink shaking the colander. She put her hands over Willow's smaller ones to stop her motion before turning her around and capturing her lips in a long kiss. She didn't stop until they heard giggles coming from behind her. Tara winked at Willow before turning around and feigning innocence.

"Oh, sorry, I guess we got a little carried away..."

"No problem Tara, it's cute." Dawn assured her, and Kelly nodded her assent.

Dinner proceeded uneventfully, except for excess touching on both sides of the table. Willow and Tara were doing it on purpose to test Kelly, who was passing with flying colors. On the other side of the table, she and Dawn seemed to bump knees, or accidentally brush fingers while passing dishes, an awful lot, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by the witches either.

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"No really, you have to let Tara drive you home. Sunnydale's really not as safe as it seems. And it's almost ten." Dawn insisted.

"It's only five blocks, Dawn!" Kelly protested. "I'm not five!"

"It's fine, Kelly, come on, I'll get my keys." Tara took Dawn's side, knowing what they did about Sunnydale nights.

Kelly looked at Dawn weirdly but followed Tara to the car. "I'll see you in class tomorrow Dawn."

Kelly was quiet on the way to the car so Tara tried to make conversation once she was on the road.

"So Kelly, I hope we didn't freak you out tonight, usually we try to tone it down around people we don't know well, I don't know what happened." She said, trying to assess the effect it had on the young girl.

"Oh! No, I hope you didn't think that. One more block then a left. I-I think it's awesome. Actually, I talked to Dawn today about starting a Gay-Straight Alliance at school. I was in one at my old school, and we don't have one here. I thought about starting one but I didn't want to do it alone and I didn't know any other....gay kids yet...but Dawn said okay." Kelly had had no intention of coming out to this woman but it just happened, she felt strangely at ease with her. Probably because she's gay too, she told herself.

"So I guess that's a no on the us freaking you out question." Tara smiled at the girl. "So you came out to Dawn today huh, congrats."

"Oh no! I didn't exactly...I just said about the club, I didn't actually say that I wasn't just a straight member of it...do you think she knows?"

"Well...probably. Why didn't you tell her? That seems like the perfect build up." Tara asked curiously.

"Now a right and then I'm the third house on the left. I don't know...it was dinnertime and it just didn't come up again." Kelly fiddled with her backpack strap nervously.

Tara pulled up to the house and stopped the car. "You have a crush on her, don't you." She said quietly. It was more of a statement than a question.

Kelly's head whipped around to stare at the woman next to her. "What! Why would I?" she tried to protest, but she sighed as Tara just waited. "Yes." She said in a small voice.

Tara smiled. "I think you should come out to her at the very least. I know she would be fine. And telling her the rest. You never know. She certainly seemed to be flirting back with you at dinner. Well, you should get inside. It was nice meeting you Kelly."

Kelly stared at her for a moment before getting out of the car in a daze. She wandered to the front door, trying to process what Tara had just said.

Tara waited to make sure Kelly got inside okay before turning around and heading home. She giggled. Wait until Willow heard this! They were like matchmakers!

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Meanwhile, Willow was dealing with the other high schooler in love.

"She wants to start a GSA and you still have doubts that she's gay?" Willow asked.

"Well, she still thinks I'm straight and she asked me to start it with her, so yeah, maybe she was one of the straight ones! And even if she is, how do I know if she likes me?"

"Honestly, it seemed to me like she did, at dinner. She was totally flirting back at you." The redhead grinned.

Dawn's eyes widened. "Flirting back? I wasn't flirting with her!" she protested.

Willow giggled. "Oh Kelly, can you pass the beans? Thanks sooo much." She mimed, making sure to brush Dawn's fingers as she took the imaginary dish from her.

Dawn's head fell into her hands. "Oh god I was."  
"Dawnie this is a good thing! Like I said, she certainly didn't seem to mind and she was doing it too! That combined with the GSA suggestion...I think you should go for it. At least come out to her, maybe she'll take the next step."

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Tara switched off the light and crawled into bed next to her girlfriend. "Ahhh, so glad we aren't in Dawn's place right now. It's much better to be able to do this every night." She sighed as she cuddled up against the smaller woman.

Willow stroked Tara's hair gently. "True, but remember how exciting it was at the beginning? That part's good too. I think all the parts are good."

"Mmm. Did Dawnie tell you that Kelly asked her to start a GSA with her? Kelly's definitely gay. And....she has a crush on Dawn. But I don't think we should tell Dawn that."

Willow turned and propped her head up on her hand. "What? Really? Dawn told me about the GSA thing, I told her I was pretty sure she could take that as a sign that Kelly wasn't straight, and at least tell her the truth. But that's awesome, she told you in the car?"

Tara nodded. "Sort of. She told me about the GSA, because she thought Dawn was cool because of us, and she didn't know any gay kids besides herself. Once I knew she really was gay I knew she totally liked Dawn, so...I asked her. And she said yes."

"Wow, this is so exciting. Did you tell her about Dawn?"

"Nope. I think Dawn should do that. I did tell her that she should come clean at least about the gay part, and I said something lame like you never know."

Willow grinned. "So hopefully Kelly will come out to Dawn, she'll come out to her, they'll get together, yay! You rock, sweetie!"

She leaned over and kissed Tara passionately. When her arms got tired and she let her body relax down over Tara's, all thoughts of the teen love crisis were forgotten.

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The next day, Kelly and Dawn saw each other in math class, and as usual, went to lunch from there. They were silent through about half of their respective sandwiches, before Kelly spoke.

"Hey, um, Dawn? You know what we were talking about yesterday? The club?" she waited until her friend nodded. "Well I was just...I wasn't sure if you figured it out or not, but...I'm the first one."

Dawn grinned. "Really? I thought maybe so...but I was afraid to hope."

"Hope?"

"Um, yeah, because...so am I." She felt stupid talking in code like this but it seemed safer in the crowded lunch area, not to mention easier somehow.

"You are? I mean, you are." She tried to keep the squeakiness out of her voice. "Willow and Tara know, don't they?" she said, something occuring to her.

"Yeah, they're the only ones so far though, well and you now."

"I thought something was up....Tara talked to me in the car last night. Told me I should come out to you."

"Hey, Will told me the same thing!"

They burst out laughing. "I think they're trying to play matchmaker!" Dawn giggled. "That explains the weirdness at dinner too!"

"They don't usually act like that?" Kelly asked.

"Well, they kind of do, but that was like over the top. Especially for having a guest."

Suddenly serious, Dawn looked down and stared at her half-eaten sandwich. "Um, are you...I mean, I guess what I'm trying to say is, do you want to go to a movie on Friday?" she blurted out.

Kelly's eyes lit up, but Dawn didn't see them as she was still focused on her sandwich in case the answer was no.

"Yes." She said simply. Dawn looked up and their eyes met.

Kelly giggled nervously. "I mean, we can't let all that hard matchmaking work be in vain, can we?"

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Buffy and Willow were doing the dishes from dinner. Willow knew that Tara and Dawn were in the living room waiting for them to finish so that Dawn could do her thing. She was nervous for Dawn. She didn't think Buffy would react too badly, but still, it was tough, she knew.

"There we go, all done. Want to go see what Tara and Dawn are up to?" Willow suggested.

"Sure thing." Buffy led the way into the living room where the other two were sitting in silence. "What's up? Nothing on TV tonight?"

Dawn swallowed and looked at Tara, who nodded encouragingly. "Um...no, actually I was hoping we could talk."

"Of course. What about?" Buffy plopped herself on the couch. Tara stood up and joined her girlfriend in the doorway to give the sisters a little space.

"I have a date on Friday night." Dawn began.

"That's great! As long as he isn't a vampire." Buffy teased her sister.

Dawn groaned. "Am I ever going to live that down? No, not a vampire." She avoided using a pronoun.

"Dawn, I don't get it, what's up? You seem really uptight." Buffy observed.

Her sister winced slightly. "I guess I am. See....this date, it's kinda a big deal. It's, um, I'm going out with Kelly." She got out.

"On a double date?" Buffy asked, still not getting it.

Willow stifled her giggle at the realization that Buffy was reacting exactly the same way as she had three years ago with her.

"No. My date...is with her."

"Oh. You're going on a date with a girl." Buffy restated.

Dawn nodded.

Buffy just stared at her sister like she had sprouted two heads.

"What?" Then she turned to the two witches standing in the doorway. "Is it the magic? Does it turn you into lesbians or something? Why is everyone suddenly gay around here, did I miss the memo? Is there something in the water? Dawn I know you love both Willow and Tara, I mean so do I, but that doesn't mean you are gay." She paused to take a breath but Tara interrupted her before she could start talking again.

"Buffy, stop right now before you say something you regret." Tara's unusual forcefulness was enough to stop Buffy's ranting. Willow was just standing there stunned, staring at her friend, and Dawn looked like she was going to cry. She turned away from Buffy and curled up on the couch. Tara could tell that the slayer's words were cutting deeply into her girlfriend and even more deeply into Dawn. She was a little shocked at Buffy's response too. She had been accepting of Willow's relationship with her from almost the start. What was up?

"Now, listen to me. I don't want to hear you say any of those things again, especially not to Dawn. Magic does not affect someone's sexuality. It didn't make Willow gay and it didn't make Dawn gay. We barely let her do any magic anyway, and if you'd think for a second you'd realize that you know men who do magic, like Giles, and straight women too, like Amy. Being exposed to lesbians doesn't make someone gay either. Willow and I didn't convert Dawn. It might have made it easier to accept her feelings and easier to come out, but that's it. This is just who Dawn is."

Willow had regained control enough to jump in.

"Anyway, Buffy, I didn't 'turn' gay right after I started doing magic. I guess you and I never really talked much about this, but I'd had feelings for other girls long before college. I always explained them away, or told myself that everyone got girl-crushes sometimes and I'd grow out of them. And I sort of thought I had, with Oz and then Xander and then Oz again I didn't really think about girls for a few years, until I met Tara."

"What do you mean, explain them away?" Buffy asked.

"Well you know, think of other reasons that I was obsessed with them. Like there was this girl in middle school, when I was near her I was just happy for no reason. She was really popular, so I thought it was just because I felt popular when she talked to me. Or with you or Faith, I chalked it up to hero-worship, since you were the slayers and all."

"You had a crush on Buffy? Really?" Dawn smiled. Buffy frowned, reminding Willow why she had never told her friend that bit of information. Oops. At least it got Dawn distracted from the way her sister was reacting to her coming out.

"Really. For most of sophomore year. And anyway, I had my longstanding crush on Xander to prove to myself that I was straight. Dating Oz was even better proof."  
"But Will, didn't you like Oz? You were just dating him to prove you were straight? I thought you guys were in love." Buffy was confused. Dawn was glad her sister had asked, since she was wondering the same thing.  
"No, we were. That's not the point. So yeah, I guess I'm not a perfect Kinsey 6, guys do come along that I am attracted to. But so do lots of girls, and they always have, not just since I started doing magic. I didn't fall in love with Tara because we did magic together. Oh, it helped us get closer, and even helped us get together, but that wouldn't have happened if we weren't both attracted to girls and each other anyway."  
Buffy was still trying to figure out what a kinzisick was, but she decided it must be some sort of lesbian slang she didn't understand and let it go.

"It just seems like everyone is gay now!" Buffy whined, finally voicing her real concern.

Willow thought for a minute. She sort of had a point. With her and Tara, Faith, and Dawn and her girlfriend, that was five. Though Buffy probably didn't know about Faith exactly. "But Buffy, Xander is straight. So are Anya, and Giles, and practically everyone you know who isn't a Scooby." She conveniently just didn't mention Faith.

"Buffy, are you mad at me?" Dawn asked in a small voice.

"Mad? Oh Dawn, of course I'm not mad. A little shocked maybe, but not mad okay? I love you no matter who you are dating. I'm sorry for saying those things...maybe I'm just feeling a little out of the loop here."

"Wait, you are jealous of us?" Dawn asked incredulously. "Most people really don't think it's a good thing to be Buffy."

Buffy laughed. "Um yeah I guess that sounds dumb huh. When you put it that way. I just don't want you to think you can't talk to me. Now, about this Kelly girl. What are you doing, where are you going, and again, we're sure she's not a vamp?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "For the last time, no. I've seen her in bright sunlight. We're just going to a movie, and Tara said she'd pick us up so that we don't have to walk home in the dark afterward. Very safe." She assured her older sister.

"Who asked who out?" Buffy asked, trying to be supportive girl.

"I guess I asked her. We sorta talked about stuff, we were planning on starting a GSA at school, she thought I'd help since everyone knows about Will and Tara and all, not cuz she thought I was gay too, so I said sure and then I got up the nerve to tell her really I was and I liked her and she said she liked me back so I said want to go to a movie on Friday?"

Buffy gave her sister a hug while thinking that the teen was getting to be just a little too much like Willow with her babbling as well as her sexuality.

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Tara thought something was on Buffy's mind. She had acted slightly odd all night, ever since Dawn's coming out speech. Tara was afraid something was still bothering the slayer. She didn't regret stopping Buffy's tirade before it hurt either Willow or Dawn (or herself, but then Tara was more concerned with the other two) but perhaps there was something Buffy wanted to say and was now afraid to ask. Willow was getting ready for bed and Dawn was in her room on the phone, probably talking to Kelly. She smiled at the thought of the young girls. That reminded her of what she wanted to do, and she headed to Buffy's for a solo chat.

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Buffy headed upstairs for bed, still feeling unsettled about her actions earlier. Maybe she should talk to Willow about the real reason Dawn's little announcement had freaked her out? It had sprung to mind years ago when Willow had come out to her too...but this time it was more intense because Faith was actually in her house acting like a decent person. Buffy was glad Faith was good again. Really. And it was starting to feel like it had in high school before Faith went nuts. They had fun together. But that was the problem. Buffy was attracted to Faith. She didn't understand it. She'd never felt the slightest thing for any other women. She loved men. She definitely was not gay. After hearing Willow talk openly about the other girls she had liked before Tara that was even more certain in her mind. But Faith.... there was something different about Faith. It had really confused her in high school, but she had done what Willow said she did, explained it away. She'd never admit it to her friends, but Faith's 'hungry and horny' statements were too true. Buffy figured any attraction to Faith was just because they fought together and that made her, well, horny. She conveniently forgot the times when she felt it and they were not patrolling or fighting. She also thought maybe it was just some slayer thing. They shared a bond already. Of course, since they were the first slayers ever to exist at the same time, she had no way of knowing if that was it. Suddenly a knock startled her. Her door was open, and Tara was standing in the doorway, but she had knocked lightly anyway to alert Buffy to her presence. Yes, something was bothering the slayer or she would have known Tara was there long before then.

"Hey, can I come in? I thought maybe we could talk, just the two of us."

"Sure Tara, come on in."

Tara shut the door behind her and sat down on the bed near Buffy.

"What's up? I hope this isn't a coming out talk too, we already know Tara." She smiled jokingly.

Tara smiled too. "No, I was pretty sure Willow covered that one for me a couple years ago. It is related to it though....Buffy, I'm sorry for cutting you off today. I could see that what you were saying was really upsetting Willow and Dawn, and I had to stop you. But I don't want to stop you from asking questions or make you worried about talking to us about this."

"What? No, I'm not worried."

"Buffy, something is bothering you. I don't know what it is, but I can tell it's there." Tara explained. "Is it about Dawn?"

Buffy sighed. Well, she had just been thinking about talking to someone about this. Willow had come to mind but Tara might be a better listener. Here went nothing.

"No, it's about Faith." She paused, thinking about how to say this, when Tara asked

"It bothers you that she likes girls too? I'm sorry, we really didn't mean to surround you!"

Buffy's mouth dropped open. "Faith likes GIRLS?"

"Um....okay....then I guess you didn't know that so how could it have been what was bothering you." Shit Tara, teach you to open your big mouth! She mentally smacked herself.

"No, I didn't know that. At least not for sure, I had wondered. How did YOU know it?"

"Umm, she told Willow a few days ago. I think Will said she was bi. Oh, but now I don't know if it was supposed to be a secret or whatever, so don't say anything to her ok?"

Buffy was trying to process this information. Faith did like girls? Interesting.

"So, um, what was it about, if you didn't know she was bi before I opened my big mouth?" Tara asked.

"It's kinda weird."

"That's okay."

"I think I'm attracted to her."

Tara blinked. It was officially getting weird. She tried not to let her face betray her thoughts, but she was suddenly a little more thoughtful about Buffy's 'something in the water' theory.

"I'm not gay though. It's just her. I don't understand it. I thought maybe it was just the hungry and horny principle, or that we were both slayers. But I don't really know. I thought it was the same with her, but if she likes girls too then maybe it's different."

"So...when you say you are attracted to her, is it all physical? You think she is attractive?"

"Well yeah, I mean hello, how can you not think Faith is hot? But I mean, I think Willow's pretty too, but I never wanted to ...." She trailed off, not sure how to vocalize what exactly she wanted to do with Faith.

"Wanted to kiss her? Touch her?"

"Yeah, I guess. But it was more than that too – I wanted to be with her. I wanted to talk to her, cuddle with her, just look at her....it was more than sex, Tara."

"You wanted to date her."

"Yeah. Like I would date a guy. Only her." Buffy fell silent, thinking.

"So this was all back in high school."

"Yes. I mean no. I mean, it was back in high school. But since she's been back....it's here again. More so, even."

"Well I have to say, it sure sounds like a crush to me. I would have said that it was probably just growing up if it was the only time it ever happened, but if you like her now, that seems wrong. There are those who think that there are levels of being gay and straight, like Willow was talking about earlier. Maybe you are just a teeny bit gay, and Faith is the only girl so far who's brought out that side of you. She could be the only one ever. Whether or not it's because of the slayer thing...well it doesn't change how you feel, no matter what the reason."

"But what am I going to do? You know Faith, she's so..."

"Slutty?" Tara offered with a crooked smile.

"Yeah I guess that's a good word for it. I mean, she seems like she's flirting with me and I'm afraid one time I might forget and flirt back."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes! What if she freaked??"

"Buffy, I don't think she'd freak. She didn't even bat an eye about me and Willow. Plus if she's acting the same way toward you, how can she freak? You'd just be acting like her." Tara was beginning to get an idea....

"If Faith wanted to date you too, and granted that is a big if, but if she did, would you want to? I mean Buffy, it's a big thing, dating a girl. It shouldn't be, but it is." Tara said quietly, thinking about all of the stares, the rude comments, that she doubted Willow had told her best friend about.

Buffy thought for a long minute.

"I think I would. I mean, all the people I care about would be okay with it. Heck most of them are already doing it too!" She grinned at her friend.

Tara grinned back. "Well then, maybe you should flirt back with her next time. Just see what she does."

"But I don't know how to flirt back!"

Tara paused. "Um, Buffy? You know that you don't have to date a girl to hang out with us, right? I mean, you said earlier that you felt left out because of all the lesbian stuff...."  
"Oh yeah well...um...that wasn't exactly the truth, it was more that I was jealous because you are all brave enough to do it...and I wasn't. I just started avoiding Faith to avoid thinking about her or about what I was feeling, and then now even, I didn't know what to do. I'm jealous that you do know what you want, and that you have it. Don't worry, I wouldn't try to convert myself just to fit in with you guys!"

"Well good, cause I'm pretty sure that doesn't work." Tara joked.

"You know, Xander's gonna flip about Dawn. Is she going to tell him? Oh boy, he better not have any fantasies about them!"

"I think she's going to tell him soon....fantasies? Did he have um, fantasies about me and Willow?"

"Oh boy did he, and I had to hear all about it...that boy really needed a male friend then, ya know? Damn, can you imagine him if Faith and I....he'd probably explode!"

They laughed for a bit before Tara brought the conversation back down.

"So you are really going to try this out? Flirt back with Faith and see what she does?"  
"I guess I am. What should I do?"

"Whatever feels right I guess, whatever you would do if she was a guy. If you need to talk later you know I'm always here." Tara gently hugged her friend before rising and returning to her own room.

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Faith entered the house warily, hoping the sensitive chatting was long over. The empty living room seemed a good sign, so she headed upstairs to bed. As she walked into Buffy's room she heard the sounds of the witches having sex.

"Well that's good, I was starting to think those two never got it on." She commented.

Buffy blushed. "I think they try to keep it to a minimum while we are here. We um, talked about it once."

"You, talked about sex? Wow B, and lesbian sex to boot. Didn't know you had it in ya."

"Yeah well, there's a lot about me you don't know." Buffy countered, managing to only blush a little.

"Really. Like that you enjoy listening to your friends having sex?"

"What! I wasn't...well not on purpose anyway. I was waiting for you."

"Ah, wanted to join in eh?"

"Yup. I figured you'd be horny, after slaying and all." Buffy said without batting an eye.

Faith blinked. That was odd. Buffy hadn't ever responded to her flirting like that.

"What's the matter Faith? I know you like girls, what, I'm not your type?" This was actually kinda fun, except that Faith was looking very odd and Buffy didn't want to freak her out. She opened her mouth to backpedal but Faith beat her to it.

"Oh, no, you're definitely my type. Hot, blond, and strong! Who wouldn't like that?"

"I dunno, I think there's something to be said for brunettes myself." She smirked at the other slayer.

"Okay B, what's up. This is not you talking."

"How do you know?"

"Well, for one, I've been saying stuff like that to you for years and you always ignored it. What's different tonight? Oh wait, are you like possessed or something?" She reached out and poked Buffy on the arm. Buffy swatted her hand away.  
"Faith! No, I'm not possessed, let's just say I figured some stuff out."  
"What, like that I like girls? Wow that was deductive of you."  
"Um...actually that I had to be told. I hope you don't mind, Willow told Tara and she thought I already knew so she said something."

"Nah, no worries, I know you are down with it."

More than you know, Buffy thought. "Yeah, of course, totally."

"So, what was it you figured out that lets you talk back?"

"I just accepted why your flirting freaked me out and got over it."

"Really, and why is that."

"Well, mostly that I liked it more than I thought I should."

"What are you saying, B?"

Both women had been slowly moving closer, and by now they were standing less than a foot apart.

"Just that...I've always wanted to do this." Buffy leaned across the small gap and pressed her lips against Faith's. Faith kissed her back without thinking. After all, she had always wanted to do this too. Wait, what was she thinking? This was Buffy! This wasn't just some girl she could fuck and leave before morning! This was new territory, and she couldn't handle it.

"I can't, B. It's not that I don't want to, I just...can't."

"Why not?"

"You know me, sex is just get some get gone. I can't do that with you B."

Buffy pulled away too, still reeling from how much she had enjoyed the kiss. "Did I suggest we do that?"

"Which one?"

"Well, either, but really the 'get some get gone.' Do you really think I wanted to have sex with you and then pretend nothing happened?"

"Um ... no? But then, what did you want? I don't understand, B. I thought you just wanted to see what it was like with a girl, or something."

"Not really, no. You're the only girl I've ever been attracted to. I'm not curious, it's just there's something there, don't you feel it? Maybe it's a slayer thing, I don't know, but there's something about you."

Faith studied the floor. "Yeah, I feel it. I didn't know you did too. But B, what do you want, to be my girlfriend or something? I don't know how to do all that stuff."

"Would you want to if you knew how?"

"I don't know. I've never wanted someone the way I want you Buffy. It...it scares me." She still refused to look at the other slayer, looking down instead and twisting her shirt in her hands. Vulnerable was not something Faith did well.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Let's just get some sleep, maybe it'll be clearer in the morning, ok?" Faith's use of her full name had not gone unnoticed by the slayer, but she decided not to make a big deal of it. She could tell this whole conversation was freaking Faith out. In fact, she was currently looking at the bed like it was going to bite her. Buffy sighed.

"Just sleep, okay?"

Faith nodded. The slayers got ready for bed and crawled in. Their legs accidentally touched and Faith flinched.

"Hey, you okay?" Buffy tentatively reached out and snaked her arm around her friend. She pulled her closer and Faith warily relaxed into the older girl's arms.

"Does that freak you out?"

"A little...but it's nice." Faith admitted.

"Well okay then. Goodnight Faith."

"Goodnight Buffy."

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	3. Chapter 3

AN: I decided I hadn't really wrapped this one up properly, so here you go. This is likely the end unless I get some strange inspiration or something.

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The next morning, Buffy woke up to a cold bed. Faith was nowhere to be found. She pulled on some clothes and went downstairs, finding her brunette counterpart eating cereal, drenched in sweat.

Unfortunately for Buffy, Dawn was sitting next to Faith, so Buffy just poured herself a bowl, trying to catch Faith's eye. The other slayer was having none of that though, and was studiously looking into her cereal.

"You're up early today." She tried.

"Decided to go for a run."

"Hope you won't be too tired to train later." Buffy said, finally catching a fleeting eye contact.

Faith grinned. "Course not."

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With Dawn at school and the witches in class, there was little for the slayers to do other than train, so they headed to the Magic Box in silence.

"Are we going to talk about this?"

"Do we have to?"

"Well, if it freaks you out enough to run away from me this morning, yeah."

"I wasn't running away, I was just running. And I ran back." Faith said.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."  
"Look, I said I don't know how to do this."

They reached the Magic Box and opened the front door.

"Hello cust- Oh, it's just you two." Anya's greeting was cut short when she saw disappointedly who was walking into her store.

"We're just going to train in the back."

"Oh all right. Don't forget there's lots of nice things to buy out here."

The slayers started out with some light warm-ups but fairly quickly decided that sparring was what they were in the mood for. They both always enjoyed fighting someone of equal strength that wasn't actually trying to kill them. This went on for some time, since they were well-matched most attacks were well-countered. Finally Buffy managed to sweep Faith's feet out from under her, and the younger slayer fell on her back. Buffy pinned her to the floor with a grin.

Faith grimaced in defeat. "Yeah, you got me. Nice one. You gonna let me up?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "I dunno, I kind of like you where I have you." She leaned in and placed a hard kiss on Faith's mouth.

Finally she came up for air with a grin on her face as she watched Faith slowly open her eyes.

"I uh…I thought we were going to talk about that." She said weakly.

"Well, you didn't want to talk." Buffy said, hopping up and reaching a hand down to help her friend up. "So I figured I had to try something else."

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That night, coming home from patrol, the slayers kept eyeing each other warily. They stopped in the kitchen to have a snack that was eaten mostly in silence, and Buffy grabbed both of their dishes when they were done.

"You um, want me to help you with that?" Faith offered.

"Nah, go ahead upstairs, be there in a few."

Buffy finished up the dishes. "This is no big deal. Just my friend. I can keep my hands off my friend." She muttered to herself, drying her hands off.

She walked upstairs and down the hall to her room. She stopped in the doorway, astonished at what she was seeing.

Faith was kneeling on the floor, one shoe on, one shoe in her hand. She was dangling the shoe in front of a very happy Miss Kitty Fantastico, who was batting at the shoelaces. Suddenly Faith noticed Buffy's presence and stood up quickly, putting the shoe behind her back. Miss Kitty, toy gone and therefore forgotten, meandered out the door right before Buffy closed it.

"Having fun?"

"I uh, I was just taking my shoe off…" Faith was turning red, embarrassed at being caught playing with the cat and ruining her tough girl image.

"I think it's adorable, you playing with Miss Kitty." Buffy said, advancing on her friend.

"You do?"

Buffy nodded. "See, you think you have everyone fooled, that you are this big tough girl that doesn't care about anything. But I see you. I know you." She pulled Faith to her and captured her lips. "You don't have to pretend around me. You can just be yourself."

She pushed Faith down onto the bed and climbed on top, pulling her shirt off at the same time. Faith was always the one in charge. Even with guys, she took charge of sex. She was usually on top, unless she decided she wanted to be on the bottom. So why was it turning her on so much to let Buffy take control? Why was she okay with Buffy seeing her vulnerable?

As Buffy bent down and kissed her again, she decided she didn't really care. But she was curious about one thing. As soon as Buffy released her lips to move to her neck, she voiced it.

"Um, Bu..uffy, I thought we were…oh wow, um, I thought we were taking it…slow?"

Buffy paused and sat up slightly.

"Do you want to stop?"

Faith shook her head.

"Okay then. Neither do I."

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"Hey Buffy can I- AHHH!!!!!"

The slayers were jolted awake by the scream of the youngest Summers sister. Buffy's first thought was that there was something attacking Dawn, but as she focused she realized that Dawn was staring at her.

Specifically, at her naked body. Which was pressed up against Faith's naked body, neither of which was fully under the covers. She grabbed the sheet and pulled it up to her neck as Faith blinked. She flung the sheet over her bedmate as well.

"Dawn! What's the…oh my god." Willow had just joined the party, followed close behind by Tara.

Buffy pulled the covers up higher and slid under them, pulling Faith with her.

"If we are really quiet do you think they will just go away?" she whispered.

"Um, guys, maybe we should let them get dressed…" Tara said, trying to usher her girlfriend and Dawn out of the room. But neither of them were having it.

"I, they, naked, and, WHAT!!!" Dawn yelled again, incoherently.

"Yeah, Tara, I kinda want to know what the explanation for Buffy and Faith being naked together is too." Willow said.

Buffy sighed. "Guess they aren't going to go away." She peeked her head out of the covers.

"After all you said the other night? You made me feel horrible for liking Kelly when you are having SEX with FAITH? You said all those things about magic, and Willow and Tara turning me gay, when you, you…ahh!"

Dawn stomped out of the room.

"Dawn!" Buffy jumped out of bed to go follow her and only got a few steps, confronted with two wide-eyed witches.

"Um, Buffy, you are still um, naked." Willow pointed out.

"Oh. Right."

"We're going to go downstairs." Tara said, this time pulling her girlfriend out of the room with her.

"Crap. Double crap." Buffy said, pulling clothes on.

"What did you say to Dawn? What was she talking about, the witches turning her gay?" Faith asked.

"Oh um, Dawn is dating a girl and I kinda freaked about it the other day, mostly cuz I was freaking about us and I took it out on her."

"Dawn? Little Dawnie is dating a girl? Hello."

Buffy gave her a look. Faith raised her hands. "Hey, don't look at me like that, I wasn't thinking about her! Only one Summers girl I want, okay?" She mentally berated herself for sounding so pathetic, but it seemed to have a good effect on Buffy, as the blond slayer grinned and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Good, I'm glad you still want me and this isn't a get-some-get-gone thing."

"B, if it was that I'd have been gone hours ago. You know I've never woken up with someone after sex before?" Faith said quietly.

"Oh Faith."

"Hey, don't worry about me, go talk to your sister, okay? I'm not going anywhere. Well maybe downstairs to get breakfast. Go."

Buffy went.

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"Buffy and Faith? Faith and Buffy? My eyes. But…Buffy. With a girl? Do you think Faith made her?" Willow's eyes were still wide.

"Made her? Like…no." Tara shook her head. "Buffy likes her."

"Wait you knew?"

"No, no, not that they were…no. I knew that Buffy liked her, and I told her that if she wanted to flirt back she could see what happened. I didn't think it'd get that far that quickly."

"Well, they did go slaying last night."

Tara looked at her blankly.

"You know, slaying makes them hungry and horny."

"Oh, right, Buffy mentioned that too."

"Wow."

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"Dawn?" Buffy found her sister in her room, getting ready for school.

"I have to go to school."

"Dawn."

"What? What is there to talk about, hypocrite?"

"Dawn, I told you I was sorry that night. What I didn't tell you is that I got out of control because I was thinking about me, not you."

"Go on."

"I was freaking out about Faith, okay, because I…well I guess you figured out that I like her, I guess we're dating kind of…anyway, I was freaking out about her, because I don't usually like girls, and then when you said you did…it was too much."

"So what you were saying about me was really about you?"

"I guess so. And again, I'm sorry."

"It hurt." She paused. "But okay. And I am SO knocking from now on."

Buffy grinned. "That's probably a good idea."


End file.
